‘Native’ case of dengue fever in Hérault, first in France in 2024
Authorities are taking action to stop the virus from spreading locally including anti-mosquito spraying operations - PLUS, see a map of the current situation nationwide
Tiger mosquitoes are now everywhere in France, and can spread illnesses such as dengue feverfrank60 / Shutterstock
A case of ‘native’ dengue fever has been confirmed in the south of France - meaning the person became infected in France and not a high-risk area abroad - in the first such reported case of 2024.
Dengue fever is spread by tiger mosquitoes when they bite an infected person and then bite someone else. Tiger mosquitoes have become more prevalent in France over recent years amid rising temperatures and climate change, since first being reported in the country in 2004.
This includes anti-mosquito spraying operations, as well as efforts to "eliminate larval breeding sites and adult mosquitoes in the places where the sick person lives and has been".
A local survey will help to "identify any other people who may be ill", the ARS said.
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Departments on alert
This is the first ‘native’ case of dengue to be reported in 2024. In 2023, around 50 native cases were reported, after a record of 66 in 2022.
The majority (90%) of France is now on ‘heightened vigilance’ for tiger mosquitoes, and 12 departments are on ‘maximum alert’ (purple, in a five-colour alert scale from green to yellow, to orange to red, and purple, from the website Vigilance moustiques).
They are: Val-de-Marne, Drôme, Alpes-Maritimes, Bouches-du-Rhône, Gard, Hérault Pyrénées-Orientales (plus the overseas departments of Mayotte, Réunion, Guyane, Martinique, and Guadeloupe).
This maximum alert level is for areas in which “one or several cases of native illnesses were recorded in 2023”, authorities said.
Tiger mosquitoes can also spread cases of Zika and chikungunya, although cases of these are much rarer.
‘Unprecedented’ spike in cases
A spike in non-native cases - those picked up from a normally at-risk country - has also been recorded in France, linked to epidemics in the French overseas territories in the Caribbean, and a similar situation in the Americas.
Authorities have called the current situation “unprecedented”, and have advised “heightened vigilance” ahead of an influx of people to France for the Olympic Games, which begin on July 26.
The best way to prevent the spread of the tiger mosquito is to get rid of standing and stagnant water, and you can prevent bites by using typical anti-mosquito methods, including wearing long clothing, spraying repellents, using mosquito nets, and burning citronella candles or similar.